Sunday, April 10, 2016

Billionaire shortage in New Jersey

David Tepper's decision to move to Florida just put a $140 million hole in New Jersey's state budget. But, according to the Christian Science Monitor, the problem is not that the socialist state relies $140 million a year from one man, but that rich people have more money.

Tepper is a hedge fund manager, a meaningless term for a man who invests his and other people's money in risky ventures. His specialty is taking companies out of bankruptcies and financing special situations. Who knows how many companies and jobs he saved. This is high risk and high reward and his annual paychecks are in the billions. One year, he earned just under $10 million a day. For 365 days.

And New Jersey took 9 percent of that money -- excuse me, 8.97 percent -- which puts it in the top three.

Despite clobbering anyone who makes $500,001 or more, New Jersey has the third highest state and local tax burdens in the nation. And on top of that, New Jersey charges tolls on its roads, giving it the the most expensive roads in the nation, topped only by Alaska and Hawaii, according to the Reason Foundation. Still there are potholes.

Trim the bureaucracy?

How heartless.

You see, the problem in New Jersey is not that the government consumes too much money and should reduce its tax bite before it loses all its billionaires. No, no, no. The people at the Christian Science Monitor say it is all the fault of billionaires for making too much money.

New Jersey's current predicament highlights both the stark income difference between America's rich and poor and the subtle side effects of trying to solve it through taxation. As The Christian Science Monitor's Olivia Lowenberg wrote in March:

"While the gulf between the middle- and lower-class wages has held stable since 2000, the gap between the very wealthy and everyone else is expanding. While inflation-adjusted wages did grow in 2015, not every segment of the population felt the benefits. Wages for men in the top 90th and 95th percentiles of earners increased by 6.2 percent and 9.9 percent, respectively, even as wages stagnated or even dropped off for men in the bottom 60 percent of earners. Wages increased about 2.6 percent for median earners."

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) has been working with — and sometimes against — the state's legislature on ideas to solve both the economic stagnation of America's middle class and the state budget. During his run for president, he blamed the federal government for increasing income inequality by stagnating growth.

Once upon a time in America, the purpose of taxation was to cover the cost of government. Now it is wealth redistribution, with a hefty portion distributed to a government bureaucracy dutifully devoted to Democrats.

There's a show on Showtime called Billions. The lead guy is every-day man, and hedge-fund multi-billionaire, Bobby Axelrod (ironically played by far-lefty Damian Lewis), who the government has a hard-on to bust. I think it was the first show and Bobby asked a buddy, "when did it become a crime to succeed in America." I about choked. Where the hell has he been the last 20 or so years the democrat have been demonizing success. You can only suspend so much disbelief when watching a show.

And the CSM is another one of those brain trusts (among the entire left) that thinks if Tepper hadn't run in and grabbed up all that money, there would be more left for everyone else. Not sure where they get confused about wealth having to be created (at least in the private sector).

Word. They'll claim that those people are leaving to dodge tax "obligations' (no s**t), and they should be entitled to a one-time fee based on the next 3 years of projected taxes for that person. I can totally see it happening too.